In what can be considered a big blow to the case against beedi tycoon Mohammed Nisham, who allegedly rammed a Hummer car into a security guard and killed him in January 2015, the main witness in the case has been declared hostile.
A security guard who had worked with Chandrabose, the victim, and was a crucial eyewitness in the case, told a court in Thrissur that he had not witnessed the alleged altercation between Nisham and Chandrabose.
The Thrissur District Sessions Court has now declared the witness hostile.
Nisham, a businessman and beedi tycoon from Kerala, had been charged under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for the murder of K Chandrabose (47), at a posh residential township in Thrissur, where Nisham owns an apartment.
On January 29, Nisham allegedly rammed Chandrabose with his luxury Hummer when the latter failed to open the gate promptly. The security personnel succumbed to his injuries two weeks later on February 16.
The beedi tycoon was later arrested by the police.
Nisham also faces charges under Kerala’s stringent Anti-Social Activities Prevention Act (KAAPA), as there are 13 other cases against him for different crimes and anti-social activities.
Though the security guard has told the magistrate that the police had forced him to speak against Nisham, his statement to the police in February was quite damning.
The guard had earlier described the incident that happened around 3.00 am in vivid detail to the police. He said that Nisham reached the apartment gate and was angry when the gate was not opened immediately. When he yelled questioning the delay, one of the guards retorted that it was late in the night and so they needed to be careful while letting someone in. This angered Nisham, who got out of his car and got into an argument.
There were four of us. We rushed into the cabin when he became aggressive. He took a stick used by security guards that was lying around and started smashing the cabin. Then he barged in. Chandrabose resisted. They had a fight inside the cabin. We all tried running out.
The security guard who turned hostile.
The guard had described how terrified they were as Nisham started smashing the cabin. The witness had also explained the fight inside the cabin in detail to the police.
He had said in his statement to the police that Chandrabose was hit with the stick multiple times, but he managed to escape.
Nisham got into the car and started the car. He chased him once through a path inside the apartment block. Chandrabose then went near a water fountain situated inside the complex.
The security guard who turned hostile.
The statement had described that the water fountain was on a raised platform (one step leading to it).
“The car came fast and rammed into Chandrabose,” the security guard had said.
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)